The Rassam Cylinder is an ancient clay cylinder containing cuneiform inscriptions that describe the reign and military campaigns of Ashurbanipal, king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

It was discovered in 1854 during excavations at the ancient site of Nineveh, located in present-day Mosul, Iraq. The excavations were led by Hormuzd Rassam, an Iraqi archaeologist appointed by the British Museum to direct excavations in Assyria and Babylonia. The cylinder takes its name from him.

Nineveh had served as the capital of the Assyrian Empire during King Ashurbanipal’s reign in the 7th century BC. However, the city was sacked and destroyed after his death. The site remained buried for centuries before excavations began in the mid-19th century. Rassam’s excavations at Nineveh uncovered several important artifacts and inscriptions, the most significant being Ashurbanipal’s palace, which contained many tablets and cylinders describing his reign.

Rassam Cylinder
The Rassam Cylinder is in the British Museum. Credit: Anthony Huan / Wikimedia Commons

The cylinder was found inside a vaulted chamber that had once been part of Ashurbanipal’s palace library. It was buried under debris and collapsed mudbrick walls, which helped preserve it and keep it in remarkably good condition despite its age. Rassam immediately recognized the significance of the discovery, carefully packed it, and sent it to the British Museum for further study.

It is made of baked clay and has the shape of a 10-sided prism, dated to the year 643 BC. It measures 48.89 centimeters in height with a diameter of 20.32 centimeters, and each of the inscribed faces is 6.35 centimeters wide. Cylinders of this type were used in ancient Mesopotamia to record special events or proclamations. Messengers who delivered the inscribed cylinders would read them aloud to spread the king’s words throughout the kingdom.

The inscription on the cylinder details in 1,304 lines nine military campaigns of Ashurbanipal against different enemies, as well as his reconstruction of the royal palace and other buildings in Nineveh. It is one of the longest and most detailed cuneiform texts from ancient Mesopotamia.

Rassam Cylinder
Detail of the inscription. Credit: The Trustees of the British Museum

The text opens by identifying Ashurbanipal and affirming his right to rule over all of Assyria. It declares that the gods appointed him to restore the glory of Nineveh, which had fallen into a period of civil unrest after his father’s death.

Much of the inscription describes Ashurbanipal’s military victories in territories controlled by Babylonia, Elam, and Egypt. It provides details of battles, sieges, conquered cities, and spoils taken from defeated enemies. These campaigns are portrayed as being ordered by the gods to restore Assyrian supremacy.

It begins by recounting his ascension to the Assyrian throne:

I (am) Ashurbanipal, offspring of Assur and Belit, the eldest prince of the royal harem, whose name Assur and Sin, the lord of the tiara, appointed for kingship from the earliest days, whom they formed in his mother’s womb for the rule of Assyria; whom Shamash, Adad, and Ishtar, by their unchanging decree, ordered to exercise sovereignty (…) With joy and rejoicing, I entered the royal harem, the splendid seat, the bond of kingship, where Sennacherib, the father of my father, my begetter, spent his days as crown prince and as king, where Esarhaddon, the father who begot me, was born, grew up, and ruled over Assyria, (where) he begot all the princes, increased his family, gathered his relatives, and in it, I, Ashurbanipal, seized the wisdom of Nabu, penetrated all (the complexities) of the art of writing as practiced by all types of craftsmen, learned to shoot with the bow, to ride on horseback and in a chariot, to hold the reins. By order of the great gods, whose names I invoked, exalting their glory, who commanded me to exercise sovereignty, they assigned me the task of adorning their sanctuaries, struck down my adversaries in my name, put my enemies to death— the valiant hero, beloved of Assur and Ishtar, offspring of royalty, that is me.

Rassam Cylinder
View of another part of the cylinder inscription. Credit: Gary Todd / Wikimedia Commons – Flickr

It then recounts the first Egyptian war against Tirhakah; the second against Urdamane; the conquest of Tyre and the death of its king Baal; the expedition against Ahseri, king of Van; the expedition against Temti-Humban-Inshushinak, king of the Elamite Empire; the war against his own brother Shamash-shum-ukin, king of Babylon, who rose against him because he believed he should rule the empire as the elder brother.

In those days, Shamash-shum-ukin, the unfaithful brother, whom I had treated well and appointed king of Babylon, I provided for him and gave him everything imaginable required for kingship; I equipped him and placed in his hands soldiers, horses, and chariots; I gave him cities, fields, and plantations in greater number than my father had decreed. But he forgot this kindness I had shown him (and) plotted evil. Outwardly, with his lips, he spoke (words) of righteousness, while inwardly, his heart devised murder. He deceived the Babylonians, who had been loyal to Assyria and (faithful) vassals of mine, telling them lies.

The text continues with the account of the first and second wars against Ummanaldas, king of the Elamite Empire; the expedition against Uate, king of Arabia; the capture of Ummanaldas; the embassy of Ishtar-duri, king of Urartu; and the reconstruction of Sennacherib’s palace in Nineveh.

Other sections detail Ashurbanipal’s construction projects, including temples and palaces erected in the main Assyrian cities. It emphasizes his role as a restorer and glorifier of these cities, especially Nineveh and the city of Calah.

The cylinder concludes with a warning to anyone who dares to destroy the monuments inscribed with Ashurbanipal’s name.

Whoever destroys the monument inscribed with my name, (that of) my father (and) that of my father’s father, and does not place it alongside his own monument, may Assur, Sin, Shamash, Adad, Bel, Nabu, Ishtar of Nineveh, the queen of Kidmuri, Ishtar of Arbela, Urta, Nergal, and Nusku judge him in my name. Aiaru, the fifteenth day. Eponymy of Shamash-daninanni, governor of Akkad.

As one of the most significant cuneiform records of its time, it remains one of the most outstanding examples in the British Museum’s renowned collection of Near Eastern artifacts.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on September 5, 2023: El Cilindro de Rassam, un prisma de 10 caras del siglo VII a.C. con una inscripción que describe el reinado de Asurbanipal

SOURCES

Daniel David Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia

The British Museum, The Rassam Cylinder

Mordechai Logan, The Author of Ashurbanipal Prism A (Rassam): An Inquiry into his Plan and Purpose, with a note on his Persona

Wikipedia, Cilindro Rassam

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